Oct 9, 2013

I worked at Lakeside in a Gifted & Talented class. The best part of those classes is that I only have about 3 classes all day since the others are all special groups that come in when they're called. So I had a lot of time to watch Burn Notice and look up photo jobs online. After work, I spent some time lounging at home before I had to head to Baltimore. The sunset on the drive down was gorgeous, reflecting off the clouds and setting the sky on fire. It seemed like such a crazy, mundane thing to be driving on highway when such amazing beauty was burning overhead.

When I got to the show I stood outside trying to sell the extra ticket, but I went inside to see What's Eating Gilbert. They are pretty good, but I'm not their biggest fan. Not at Ram's Head anyway. I went back outside after they finished, coming back in for Bayside, who played their usual great set. A few songs were left out that I wanted to hear, but they still have such a fun energy that it didn't matter. Justin Pierre came out to sing Megan, which was a sweet surprise.

I went to the bar next door and had a Resurrection by Brewer's Art between bands. It was pretty good but overpriced. I went in to see Motion City Soundtrack play a really different and awesome set. It seemed like the crowd wasn't as into them, but after Bayside it's hard to get that energy back I suppose. They played a few songs I haven't heard in a while so that was cool. While I do love this band, it was a bit of a lackluster ending to the show. Still very enjoyable, but it just lost something after the switch. The drive home was long, dark, and sleepy. I saw strange things like a family walking along a dark two lane road by the river. It was weird. But I got home and in bed.

Sep 18, 2011

Ryan and I got to the gym in the early afternoon for our third day of working out, this time working on pull-ups and related exercises. I can't do pull-ups. Gotta work on that a lot.

After showering and having something to eat I met Chuck to do some editing. We started cutting up the files further and moving them around to make a more coherent story out of our many minutes of video.

After editing for a while I went to Joanna's and we headed up to Philly, drove around for quite a while looking for parking and then went to Blackbird Pizzeria for foods. I got the vegan cheesesteak, which was really good. I always want to get the BBQ thing again. Next time.

We headed over to the TLA for night two of the discography tour for Motion City Soundtrack. They came out and played their third album, Even If It Kills Me. I personally love this album. There are some songs on there that are my favorites of theirs so I have a soft spot. It was great seeing some of those songs live. Especially "The Conversation."

My Dinosaur Life was up next after the little break and that is another killer record that is high energy. All of those songs are fun live and it, and therefore the show, ends with "The Weakends" which is my favorite song on the album and one of my favorite songs of theirs ever. I think this show was the better of the two. Lots of fun and great songs that I love.

The drive home felt long after a long weekend of back and forth to Philly/Camden. I tried to get to bed because I knew I had to be up early.

Sep 16, 2011

I took a job for a gym class at Memorial, against my better judgment. It wasn't too bad this time. The classes have health class half the time so I was only in the gym three times out of the day and the other teachers did all the stuff. They played a game that could be good if there weren't fifty kids on the court playing at the same time.

Later I met Joanna and headed into Philly for Motion City Soundtrack's show at the TLA. They started by playing their first album, I Am the Movie, in its entirety then they took a break. It's a great album so every song was fun.

They took a short break and then came back to play Commit This to Memory in full. This album was great as well. I wasn't thrilled with the crowd, but the music was great and Justin was characteristically awkward.

After driving home I was ready to get to sleep and bring a new day on.

Nov 10, 2010

I got to Westby just in time for the gallery committee meeting with Jack, our printer. We described our ideas for the publication and fielded some questions/considered possible alternatives. After he left we had a quick meeting and figured a few more things out.

In Type Jan looked at our stationery sets and shot down most of my ideas, but was quick to give me her own so I could use them. I'm ready for this class to be done. It seemed to take a long time today. I put a final layer of latex on my sculpture pieces and left them to dry so I could hopefully pour my plaster tomorrow.

Tracy, Brian and I went to the Electric Factory where the latest incarnation of Saves the Day started playing shortly after we arrived. They played a good set, including three songs off their upcoming album that sounded really good.

Say Anything came up next. I wasn't expecting that much for some reason but I was pleasantly surprised by them. They were awesome. I really need to listen to more of their music. I had also forgotten that Kenny from The Starting Line was playing bass for them on this tour. He was a good addition.

Another nice surprise was a one-song performance by Two Tongues, the side project/mash-up of Say Anything and Saves the Day with Chris and Max singing. A surprising amount of people seemed to know the song too.

Motion City Soundtrack was up last, opening with "The Weakends" and carrying on with an awesome set after that. They played a handful of new tracks but broke out a lot of great old tunes as well.

I'm glad Justin had his voice back for our show since he had lost it a few days earlier. He was characteristically jubilant and talked frantically between songs about his sports knowledge or lack thereof and his appreciation for everyone who comes out to shows. They are always great.

It doesn't feel as late as it is. I hate not being able to sleep.

Jul 16, 2010

I met Tracy and Tina at their house and headed to Camden, drinking water on the way in an attempt to be hydrated for the day. Seriously? 25 dollars for parking? I know it's supply and demand but come on, it's a little ridiculous.

We went into Warped Tour, my first in three years, and found the giant inflatable schedule to plan out our day.

The Reel Big Fish were coming on just a few minutes after we got there so we went up to the main stage to see them. They had a really good crowd too.

It seemed like they played a lot of songs. They were a great way to kick off the day!

We walked around to find out where everything was and came upon this band, Left Alone, on a side stage. They were a good punk bank that sounded a lot like Rancid. It turns out that these neo-punk rockers have nothing to rebel against except other bands. They did nothing but talk shit on emo bands the whole time for their hair and whining. I feel like it's pretty juvenile and stupid, just play music and if you don't like other bands, don't listen to them.

We took a little break from the sun inside while there were no bands we wanted to see. We were approached by a guy with a petition to stop cruelty to elephants and another guy who was giving away books for money...

Four Year Strong was up next on the other main stage. They opened strong with some good new songs and then an old one or two. They had technical problems with one of their amps or guitars which caused them to spend a majority of their set talking to the crowd and playing bits of cover songs. Once they fixed the problem they only had time for one more so they finished with "Heroes Get Remembered.."

The band we were all most excited to see was on the main stage next. Motion City Soundtrack killed it as always. They're always a lot of fun.

They played almost all of my favorite songs in a row. I love pretty much all of their music so it's hard for them to disappoint me with a song but the set was great and they seemed like they had a great time.

I headed over to the side stage to see AM Taxi, whose CD I just got recently. They sound good live but they don't have a lot of stage presence. I guess they're a fairly new band so they didn't have a big crowd either. I think they might get more popular.

I headed back to the main stage to see most of the Bouncing Souls' set. They are a great old punk band. They play for their fans and they still seem to be having a blast doing what they do. No complaining about other bands or anything, they're just there for the music.

I went back across the lot to see Hey Monday. I only caught their last three songs: a new one that's really catchy and I think will be great on the new CD, a cover of "My Head" which they did really well and "Homecoming." This was my first time seeing them but I'd like to see them play a proper show one day.

Inside, Ace Enders slowed things down quite a bit for us with I Can Make a Mess Like Nobody's Business. Whatever he does in music, it's always sincere and really good. He ended the set with The Early November's "Baby Blue." Great set.

It was break time after that so we got food.. well, pretzels. It was a delicious pretzel. Overpriced of course but it was nice to eat something. It was also nice to sit down for a little while in the shade.

Set Your Goals played as the sun was getting lower and hiding behind clouds so they breeze off the river felt nice and cool. I still don't know a lot of their songs but they are entertaining.

I made the mistake of going to see The All-American Rejects, whose songs I love but whose live performance leaves much to be desired. It was basically Tyson Ritter theater. He was being very strange and seemed annoyed at the crowd when they didn't know songs off of the band's first album. He pretended to go to sleep on stage because the crowd was so boring and then taunted them when they got excited about them playing "Move Along." He just danced around and refused to sing a full verse. That was when I left.

I went inside to see Sum 41, who were arguably the best band of the day. They put on a great show and really get into it. They played a ton of great songs and the crowd loved it. I was hotter in the mass of people during their set than I was at any point during the day under the sun. I hope they play some club shows soon.

The Rocket Summer came on the stage right next to them so I stayed to watch a song and a half but sadly, Alkaline Trio was playing at the same time.

Alkaline Trio played a great mix of old and new songs, pulling out a few that I didn't expect and hadn't heard in quite a while. As headliners they're supposed to play longer than the rest of the bands but it seemed like their set got cut short.

We got a chance to get into the crowd one last time as they played some of our favorite songs but the ending was anti-climactic as they just left the stage awkwardly and never returned.

We went to Olive Garden on the way home for some real food. I ate so much. I was really hungry after not eating much all day so I suppose it makes sense. I ate a bunch of breadsticks with my soup and finished my raviolis, which I usually can't do.

When we got back to Tracy's we attempted to figure out some plans for later in summer before I headed to home to get a refreshing shower and lay down.

Feb 5, 2010

I had to be up pretty early to get to work on time but luckily the nature of my job helped me out a little by offering me an easy day. I had the first block off so I went home and did some laundry while catching up on Important Things with Demetri Martin. I had to go back for a class with another teacher for second block and then I had another two hours off between classes and for lunch. I went to my grandmom's and had spaghetti with my sister and Aiden before going home to shower and pack some things up for the weekend. After all that I went to the Senior High to finish my day in health care class with very friendly and inquisitive students.

After a failed attempt to get lunch with Katie, I met up with Joanna, got a veggie burger and vegan chicken patty for the road and headed to Allentown. The big crazy storm that had been predicted had yet to show any signs yet so the drive up was fine.

The Swellers opened the show. They were a lot of fun, I need to listen to them. This Providence played next and were good to listen to but hard to look at. Well... depending on who you are I guess.

Set Your Goals played next and the crowd actually started moving around. It was the first time I had seen anyone really do anything but nod their heads with the music all night. I stood off to the side since my knee was hurting a bit. I wasn't trying to re-injure myself. At least not before Motion City.

Speaking of.. Motion City Soundtrack came out (finally) to the opening track to their new album and played a whole bunch of great songs, new and old.

They were funny and energetic as always. They played a lot of new stuff and we were right up front for most of it. They played a two song encore and then people fought over the drumsticks. I had one for a second but I let it go when someone else tugged. I'm not wrestling someone for a drumstick, I'll just buy one.

It was barely snowing when we got out to the car but shortly after we got on the highway the storm revealed itself. Armed with Dunkin' Donuts white hot chocolate and a bagel with cream cheese, we braved the storm slowly down the PA Turnpike to get home. It was hard to see most of the time and ice was forming on my windshield wipers. We carefully made it home, even though many roads, like 55 (above), were unrecognizable.

So what should have taken less than two hours took about twice that to traverse. Oh well, I plan on staying inside for a while now. It seems like Rowan actually decided to start plowing this time instead of letting it pile up. How forward thinking of them.